Two of Canada's most popular loyalty programs - Shoppers Optimum and PC Plus - to come together as the "PC Optimum" program, increasing convenience and rewards for millions of Canadians
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TORONTO, Nov. 8, 2017 /CNW/ - Building on the success of two of Canada's most popular loyalty programs, Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX: L, "Loblaw") today announced plans to bring together the Shoppers Optimum and PC Plus programs to create one program, PC Optimum, on February 1, 2018. Through a single card or app, members will be able to earn and redeem loyalty points more conveniently across Loblaw's network of nearly 2,500 stores and its e-commerce sites.

The current programs, PC Plus and Shoppers Optimum, have respectively 8 million and 11 million members – who, last year, redeemed points every two seconds of the day, to save money on their necessities and indulgences. The programs rank first and second when Canadians are asked which loyalty programs provide them the best value1.

"Retail is increasingly about customer relationships and loyalty will be central to the future of personalized value and experiences," said Galen G. Weston, Executive Chairman and CEO, Loblaw Companies Limited. "Keeping customers at the heart of our thinking, we created the single PC Optimum loyalty program to give Canadians the value they have come to trust, with the ability to earn more points and redeem them in more stores than ever before."

Members of the Shoppers Optimum and PC Plus programs can continue to earn and redeem points as usual until the February 1, 2018 launch of the new program, when the full value of their existing points will convert to PC Optimum points.

"We know how much Canadians care about their loyalty points, so we created the PC Optimum program by listening to our customers," said Jim Noteboom, Senior Vice President, Loyalty and Consumer Insights, Loblaw Companies Limited. "They want a single, easy-to-understand program, covering our entire assortment of food, health, beauty and apparel. Most of all, the PC Optimum program will deliver on their expectation of equal value when the programs come together, with additional options to save even more."

The PC Optimum program will include elements of the Shoppers Optimum and PC Plus loyalty programs that Canadians love, including weekly personalized offers, the ability to redeem points for almost anything in our stores, and exclusive points-earning and points-redemption events.

When it launches on February 1, 2018, the PC Optimum program will provide a range of features requested by customers:

Equal value when their PC Plus and Shoppers Optimum points are converted to PC Optimum points.

Just one card or app for loyalty offers across the Loblaw and Shoppers Drug Mart network.

The ability to redeem faster. With the PC Plus program, members can redeem only once they reach 20,000 points. The threshold will be lowered to 10,000 with the PC Optimum program.

50 per cent more points (15 points vs. the current 10 points) for almost every dollar spent at Shoppers Drug Mart.

The PC Optimum program will have a single, simple redemption table – i.e. 10,000 points equals $10 of value.

President's Choice Financial® Mastercard® cardholders will earn up to 30 PC Optimum points for every dollar they spend across Loblaw's retail network, with an additional 15 PC Optimum points for every dollar spent on eligible purchases at Shoppers Drug Mart / Pharmaprix stores. PC Financial has provided Canadians with more than $1 billion in free groceries.

Loblaw has begun notifying members of both PC Plus and Shoppers Optimum of the pending change. The company will continue to share details with members over the coming months. More information is available at www.pcoptimum.ca.

In Quebec, due to the difference in laws applicable to loyalty programs, the Pharmaprix Optimum program will end on January 31, 2018. Members of the Pharmaprix Optimum program will have until May 2, 2018 to convert their points at full value to PC Optimum points or redeem them online or in store.

About Loblaw Companies LimitedLoblaw Companies Limited is Canada's food and pharmacy leader, the nation's largest retailer, and the majority unit holder of Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust. Loblaw provides Canadians with grocery, pharmacy, health and beauty, apparel, general merchandise, financial services, and wireless mobile products and services. With nearly 2,500 corporate, franchised and Associate-owned locations, Loblaw, its franchisees, and Associate-owners employ approximately 200,000 full- and part-time employees, making it one of Canada's largest private sector employers.

Loblaw's purpose – Live Life Well® – puts first the needs and well-being of Canadians who make one billion transactions annually in the companies' stores. Loblaw is positioned to meet and exceed those needs in many ways: convenient locations; more than 1,050 grocery stores that span the value spectrum from discount to specialty; full-service pharmacies at more than 1,300 Shoppers Drug Mart® and Pharmaprix® locations and more than 500 Loblaw locations; PC Financial® financial services; affordable Joe Fresh® fashion and family apparel; and three of Canada's top consumer brands in Life Brand®, no name® and President's Choice®. Through the PC Plus® and Shoppers Optimum® loyalty programs, more than one in every three Canadians are rewarded for shopping with the companies.

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1 From June 29-July 7, 2017, an online survey was conducted among 912 randomly selected Canadian adults who are RESEARCH NOW panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 4%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to education, age, gender and region (and in Quebec, language) Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.